


Sometime down the road

by twinewool (colouredwool)



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Parenthood, Post-Finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 12:59:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16388186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/colouredwool/pseuds/twinewool
Summary: Snapshots of life on Gift-3 (and a meandering path to parenthood)





	Sometime down the road

The communal park and garden behind the houses reminds Even of the Ever-Forward sometimes. The open land is lush and green, a playing field surrounded by a sprawling, functional space where people come together to grow things, filling up the raised beds, trellises, and glass frames with plants from all over the Mirage. Cascabel’s heard him talk about it so many times he's taken to rolling his eyes at any mention. But he knows how important it is for Even to have something that reminds him of his old home.

They’ve started visiting the park when the diner is closed and Surge doesn’t need an extra hand at the workshop. Even tends to his plants and checks the new specimens growing on the plot, whilst Cascabel catches up with a neighbour or two. More often than not they both get roped into some game the kids are playing.

Cascabel’s given up on kicking a ball around the park with sprightly teenagers, resigning himself to the sidelines as he sits down to catch his breath.

He looks up to see Even playing tag with some of the talonite kids. Their aerial antics get pretty rowdy sometimes and Cascabel winces as they tackle Even to the ground with a thump and a flurry of feathers. Even lies there laughing and protesting as he’s swarmed by all three fledglings.

“Your Even doesn’t half take a beating sometimes.”

Kalgray is standing nearby, smiling as they watch Even lift one of their grandchildren up only to be tackled again by the other two.

“Eh. He can take it. He’s got those armoured plates.” Cascabel pats his chest, grinning.

“He needs them to deal with my lot.” Kalgray shakes their head. They turn to face Cascabel. “You’re both very good with the kids. Do you uh, have any of your own? I’ve never seen any with you so I thought they might be grown up. If you did.”

“No. No children.”

Kalgray nods with a polite hum and moves the conversation on.

It’s a brief moment in an otherwise normal day, but Cascabel can’t help thinking about it. It lingers in the back of his mind for longer than he expects.

 

 

***

 

 

Alacrity is thirteen, quiet and serious, and her obsession with ship tech means she thinks ex-pilot Even Gardner is the coolest person she knows.

They both have the same look of solemn concentration on their faces as they carefully cut and glue the tiny pieces of a 1:400 scale model of Xania’s Grace at the kitchen table. Even’s long asked for (and much edited) stories of his time as a pilot have clearly given way to some serious model-making.

“You want to stay for dinner Alacrity?” Cascabel asks, leaning in the doorway.

“Dunno. What are you guys having?”

Purple yam and bean hot pot is deemed way better than whatever her parents are cooking, and her mom laughs over the phone.

“Sure, as long as she's back by seven.”

After feeding and dropping Alacrity back home, Even tidies up the leftover glue and bits in the kitchen with a smile.

She’s a little too reserved to make a second visit, but Cascabel knows Even gets messages over the mesh every so often. He's fond of his budding pilot penpal, and Alacrity’s questions about old prototypes and new space-faring technology always brighten Even's day.

Cascabel asks her moms when her next nameday is and Even makes sure to send Alacrity a new model kit from the both of them.

 

 

***

 

 

It's rare that Cascabel can't sleep through the night. But when nightmares of a more violent time haunt him and Even's not at home, he knows he can go find him at the diner.

The bell jangles overhead as he steps through the door and he nods to a couple of night-owl regulars. It's always calming just to walk in here. The familiar smell of cooking, the coffee brewing in the pot, the background noise of whatever show or music is burbling over the speakers. He can feel the tension start to leave his shoulders already, feel his jaw unclench. His breath come just a little easier.

Even looks up from the counter and gives him a smile, though it's tinged with concern. He knows Cascabel doesn't make nightly visits unless it's been bad. He’s leaning on his folded arms, watching over a group of teens who are huddled at the bar, immersed in something on the mesh.

It’s 2am, probably far too late for the kids to be out, but there’s nowhere better for them to hang out when they’ve no reason to be home. Even is happy to make them late night milkshakes if it means they’re not getting into trouble elsewhere.

“Hey,” Cascabel says as he walks up and leans in to kiss Even hello. “You need any help?”

Cascabel ends up commiserating with a sixteen year old named Polyvalent about how much boyfriends suck as he mixes him a strawberry milkshake with extra cream and toppings. Poly’s recent break up is a tragedy in three parts, and it seems like it's not the first from the number of rolled eyes and smiles his friends make behind his back.

“I feel you bud,” Cascabel says and drops another chocolate wafer into the cream.

He coaxes Poly to choose what plays next on the speakers – no heartbreakers allowed – and there's a rendition of some upbeat song about _no going back_ being chorused by the kids as they leave half-an-hour later.

Even is still humming it in the kitchen when Cascabel comes through to clean up.

“You sure cheered up that mopey crowd,” Even says as he wipes down the stove top and benches, preparing for the breakfast rush in a few hours.

“I think they did a pretty good job at that themselves. My ears are still ringing.”

“I’ll still give you credit for a hell of a milkshake.”

Cascabel laughs. “I might have gone overboard with the toppings. But he looked so sad! Poor kid, he needed it.”

Even grins and shakes his head as he passes a mop Cascabel’s way.

A few weeks later Cascabel sees Poly again in town and receives a sheepish wave from across the street. Poly's holding hands with another kid and Cascabel wonders if there'll be another night drowning his sorrows with milkshakes in his future.

He hopes not.

 

 

***

 

 

It’s routine these days that once every couple of months there's a big sleepover at the Gardner household.

They cram ten or so kids into the front room to watch movies and play mesh games, until the sugar-rush wears off and they all get cranky enough to fall asleep. A night of babysitting every once in a while leaves some of their friends and colleagues from the workshop at least one child-free evening to themselves. As hectic and tiring as it gets minding so many under-twelves, it’s always fun.

Cascabel brushes his teeth, ready to finally sleep now all the kids are bundled into their make-shift beds and sleeping bags.

He rinses his mouth and looks up to see Even smiling to himself as he closes the door to the front room. He thinks it’s the smile that does it.

“You ever think about having a kid?”

Cascabel doesn’t mean it to come out so sudden, but he’s tired and his filter’s gone. He’s relieved that Even only blinks a little and then smiles.

“I think we’ve already adopted half the neighbours’ kids by accident.”

Even walks into the bathroom and looks a little more serious as he wraps an arm around Cascabel.

“You know I can't have children, right? Not on a genetic level. It's all…” He gestures vaguely at his own body.

Cascabel remembers reading the medical report – the unique aspects of Even’s body recorded and tracked in the hope that doctors can make sense of him if anything goes wrong. Genetic compatibility, even with synthetic conception, had been one of the things they’d been able to write off. Even had never seemed bothered by the news.

“Yeah, I know. That's not what I was thinking.”

“Oh?”

“I just…I like spending time with the kids. It's great being part of the families in the neighbourhood and doing nights like this. But sometimes it feels so…temporary? Like it always ends a little too soon when they’re here, and then they’re gone, and I was thinking…”

Cascabel sighs and rubs a hand over his face. The light overhead suddenly seems too bright and he can feel the stress of the day catching up with him. When he opens his eyes again Even is giving him a soft look, brow furrowed.

“…I think I’m too tired for this conversation.” Cascabel rests his head on Even’s shoulder. “We shouldn’t go over this now, standing in the bathroom whilst I’m dead on my feet.”

“We can talk about it tomorrow, if you want.” Even leans in and kisses Cascabel on the forehead, a couple of tendrils reaching out to wrap warmly around his back. “But just so you know…I’ve been thinking about it too.”

Cascabel feels his heart flutter and he nods into Even’s shoulder. Holds him close for a little longer.

 

 

***

 

 

Their friend Rithmic had been three months pregnant and trying to make plans for parenthood when they’d made the offer. They’d been worried about having no family on Gift-3 to help out, worried about foster-care and relying on strangers. So when Cascabel had mentioned him and Even wanting to start a family in passing, they'd lit up immediately.

By the end of the week Rithmic had asked them both to come round to talk.

“You want us to be co-parents?”

“Yeah! You seem ready for it. We only live a street away from each other and you guys are always mucking in with the kids round here. I know you’d be great.” Rithmic had put a hand on their heart. “And seriously, there are few people I’d trust more.”

Cascabel had been surprised, but it had all seemed natural to Even. He’d been eager to set it up.

“I had like five parents growing up on the Ever-Forward,” he’d said. “Not all of them were partners. I even had a couple of different homes when I got older.”

In the end there were only a few registration forms to fill out officially, and everything else was just the chaotic preparation and re-scheduling of their lives for the new arrival.

Cascabel is still a little at odds with parenting part-time, but it’s been getting easier week by week.

To be honest, sometimes he doesn’t know how it could be anything but easy when he looks at Elytra. Her big dark eyes, her tiny fluff of hair, her chubby little arms and legs. She kicks and squeals as Cascabel blows a raspberry on her tummy, and her gurgles of laughter are infectious. He giggles too, feeling his heart soar at her gummy smile.

Even comes into the room, clean of the sick she’d dumped on him only a few minutes ago. He sighs, hands on hips.

“Oh, I see. Now she's all sunshine again.”

“Yeah. She puked up all the bad stuff on you.” Cascabel grins.

“Little puke monster,” Even says fondly, reaching a tendril out so she can grip it with her tiny hands. She's mastered grabbing things already, and Even’s learnt to keep his hair well tied up for fear of how curious she is about pulling on things.

“I’m heading off now,” Even says, kissing Cascabel on the cheek and leaning down to kiss the top of Elytra’s head. He manages to free his tendril from her fist with a little bit of wiggling and a boop on her nose.

Rithmic will be back to help out in the afternoon, and Even's lack of need for sleep means he’s been taking on the night feedings. It's kept Cascabel and Rithmic’s sleep patterns bearable so far, but it'll be a long time before late nights at the diner start up again.

Elytra begins to grumble and Cascabel picks her up, carrying her against his chest as he follows Even to the door.

It strikes him as he passes by his old workshop sign, now hanging in the hallway like a relic, how drastically his life’s changed in the past five years. From weapon’s manufacturing and war to this, living a settled life with Even and their kid. Holding a child in his arms who’s as much a part of his life as her birth-parent’s, and knowing that she’ll likely gain more caretakers as she grows up. It’s a comforting thought if still an odd one to get his head around.

Even turns back as he steps out the door and smiles. His eyes are soft as they settle on Elytra. He clearly takes in the scene and Cascabel smiles back, wondering if he’s sharing a similar thought about time and family and unexpected turns in life.

“I’ll see you later,” Cascabel says. “Love you.”

“Yeah. Love you too. You two have fun today.”

"Oh, I’m sure we will.” Cascabel bounces Elytra a little and she bats a hand against his shoulder, gurgling. “Uh huh. She’s ready for fun.”

Even smiles and turns round, walking out into the empty driveway to spread his wings out. He gives one last wave and sets off into the sky, blowing back leaves with his wings.

It takes a few more beats until he’s reached momentum but soon he’s up and away, and Cascabel watches with Elytra warm and cuddled in his arms until Even’s out of sight.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I love the fact that Even canonically grew up with communal families on the Ever-Forward (even if we didn’t get many details), and I just wanted to experiment with how Even and Cascabel might start a family on Gift-3.


End file.
